Tagged: unemployment

The news that Michigan's unemployment rate dropped again for the month of December was good news for Governor Snyder's State of the State address, but this rate drop is accompanied by a continued drop in Michigan's overall labor force.

The labor force is the overall number of employed people plus unemployed people.

People are categorized as "unemployed" if they are out of work AND they have been looking for a job in the last 28 days.

As my chart shows above, the labor force in Michigan has been dropping consistently since 2006.

Comparing January 2006 to December 2011, there are around 432,000 fewer people in Michigan either working or looking for work.

Few monthly number reports generate as much audience response as the monthly unemployment numbers.

Monthly housing numbers or monthly retail sales figures just don't seem to push people's buttons as much.

When we report on the unemployment numbers, we often receive comments attempting to inform us what the "unemployment rate" actually means - like this comment we received recently:

Unemployment numbers are comprised of those that are in the job market for the past 30 days. It does not include those that have not been in the job market in the last 30 days: people who have given up looking; those that have gone off unemployment because it has run out.

While some of this is true, not all of it is.

According to the Michigan Department of Technology, Management & Budget, for the month of November most of the "seasonally unadjusted unemployment rates" fell in 14 of the state's 17 major labor market areas.

From their press release:

“November was a favorable month in many of Michigan’s local labor markets,” said Rick Waclawek, director of the Bureau of Labor Market Information & Strategic Initiatives.  “The only increases in unemployment were seasonal and expected in the state’s northern regions with the conclusion of the summer and fall tourism seasons.”

Officials from the Department of Technology, Management and Budget say when comparing November 2011 to November 2010 - all of the state's 17 regions experienced declines:

From November 2010 to November 2011, unemployment rates fell in all of the state’s 17 regions.  Over-the-year rate declines ranged from 1.7 to 3.3 percentage points with a significant median drop of over two and a half percentage points.  The largest rate decreases since November 2010 occurred in the Flint and Muskegon-Norton Shores MSAs along with the Northeast Lower Michigan region.

Here's the list of the 17 major labor markets in Michigan by rank of lowest unemployment rate (Ann Arbor area) to highest (Northeast Lower Michigan).

The list compares unemployment rates from November 2010 to rates in November 2011:

1. ANN ARBOR MSA- 6.9 percent to 5.2 percent
2. LANSING - EAST LANSING MSA 8.3 percent to 6.4 percent
3. GRAND RAPIDS - WYOMING MSA 9.0 percent to 6.5 percent
4. HOLLAND - GRAND HAVEN MSA 9.3 percent to 6.5 percent
5. BATTLE CREEK MSA  9.5percent to 6.9 percent
6. KALAMAZOO - PORTAGE MSA 9.3 percent to 6.9 percent
7. BAY CITY MSA10.0 percent to 7.4 percent
8. MONROE MSA 10.3 percent to 7.5 percent
9. SAGINAW-Saginaw Township North  MSA 10.3 percent to 7.7 percent
10. JACKSON MSA 10.8 percent to 7.8 percent
11. NILES - BENTON HARBOR MSA 10.6 percent to 8.2 percent
12. UPPER PENINSULA LMA 10.6 percent to 8.2 percent
13. MUSKEGON - NORTON SHORES MSA 11.5 percent to 8.4 percent
14. FLINT MSA 12.0 percent to 8.7 percent
15. NORTHWEST LOWER MICHIGAN 12.4 percent to 9.4 percent
16. DETROIT-WARREN-LIVONIA MSA11.6 percent to 9.5 percent
17. NORTHEAST LOWER MICHIGAN 13.7 percent to 10.6 percent